


Surprise

by charliewrites



Series: The Grand Gesture Duo [1]
Category: Lovely Little Losers, Nothing Much to Do
Genre: Canon Compliant, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, just so much fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-22
Updated: 2016-05-22
Packaged: 2018-06-09 23:51:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6929425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charliewrites/pseuds/charliewrites
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peter comes home to a surprise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Surprise

**Author's Note:**

> While I was writing The Actor, I had around four fluff fics that I was working on, on the side, because I really don't cope well with writing angst, and now I'm starting to go through and finish them, one by one. This one is one of those. 
> 
> Hope you like it!

Peter was utterly exhausted. Why he’d accepted the invitation to go out for drinks with the rest of the cast after rehearsals was beyond him. Of course, he loved them, and he always had fun with them, but they’d had a 6am start, and they’d gone over the choreography for the entire play that day. Every single muscle in Peter’s body ached; he really needed to get back into shape. 

He hadn’t had a lot to drink, though, and he’d made sure to leave relatively early – it was only around 7pm. He needed to clean the flat before Balthazar came home from tour in a week’s time, and he would only have the time to do that tomorrow. It wasn’t that the flat looked bad, exactly, but it could do with a vacuum, and he really needed to do laundry. Mostly, he just didn’t want Balthazar to feel like he had to do it after more than a solid month of travelling and constantly working.

Now he thought about it, Balthazar was the exact reason why Peter had been reluctant to go home straight after rehearsals. He was super proud of Balthazar for living his dream and going on tour and in the studio in various cities around the world, but man, it was hard coming home to an empty flat every night. 

When Balthazar was home, there was always music softly playing when Peter came back from rehearsals or a show, and even if he wasn’t home by the time Peter got back, he was still going to come crawling into bed at some point during the night. 

While Balthazar was away, though, it was much harder to fall asleep. Peter had gotten so used to falling asleep to the sound of Balthazar’s steady breath and occasional humming as he was curled up beside Peter. Now, it took Peter at least an hour or so of tossing and turning before he could fall asleep. He’d taken to sleeping in one of Balthazar’s T-shirts because it made it easier to have some semblance of Balthazar being there. 

Yawning, Peter scrubbed his hands over his face before fishing his keys out of his pocket as he walked up the hallway to the front door, headphones in and Balthazar’s latest single streaming into his ears. Maybe, since he was so tired from rehearsals, he’d be able to actually fall asleep pretty quickly tonight. He wasn’t betting on it, though.

He unlocked and opened the door to find a soft, warm light shining from the living room into the entryway. That was weird. Had he forgotten to turn off the lights before he’d left this morning? He didn’t think so. It also smelled like someone was cooking. Had he forgotten to turn off the stove? Surely it would smell burnt if that was the case. So who was cooking?

Kicking off his shoes and pulling out his headphones, he made his way into the living room and stopped dead in his tracks. 

The dining table had been moved from the kitchen into the middle of the living room. It was covered with a white table cloth and set for dinner for two. In the middle of the table was a slim vase with a single, red rose and two lit candles that were the only source of light in the room. 

In the guitar stand in the corner, which had been empty since Balthazar had left a month ago, was Balthazar’s favourite guitar; the one Peter was certain Balthazar had brought with him.

And then Peter seemed to forget how to breathe for a second, because coming out of the kitchen, wearing a crisp button-down with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and those skinny jeans that Peter loved him in, with an open bottle of wine in his hand, was Balthazar. 

‘Oh hey. Perfect timing, the food’s almost done,’ Balthazar said with a smile and set the bottle down on the table. Then he went up to Peter and wrapped his arms around his neck, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. 

The kiss pulled Peter back into his body, which he’d momentarily left, trying to figure out if this was actually real. Balthazar’s lips against his confirmed that it was indeed real. 

Balthazar was home.

Peter wrapped his arms around Balthazar’s waist, hugging him close, trying to hide that he was welling up a little bit. 

‘I thought you were going to write in Sydney this week,’ Peter said through a surprised laugh, pulling back just enough to look at Balthazar’s face. ‘When did you get in?’

‘A little over three hours ago. My writing sessions with that producer that I was supposed to work with this week were moved to next month so there was no need for me to stay in Australia,’ Balthazar explained, caressing the back of Peter’s neck as he spoke. 

‘Why didn’t you tell me? I would have picked you up at the airport if you had,’ Peter said, taking in Balthazar’s face; he’d really missed looking at him.

‘I didn’t know until this morning, and I was lucky to get a flight today anyway,’ Balthazar said. Then his features softened in that way that always made Peter’s insides melt. ‘Besides, I wanted to surprise you. I know how hard you’ve been working lately. I wanted to do something nice for you.’

‘I love you,’ Peter said, his heart ready to burst any moment with the amount of affection that he felt for this man. 

‘I love you too,’ Balthazar said and kissed Peter’s lips, one of his hands moving from the back of Peter’s neck to the side of his face, his thumb caressing Peter’s cheek as they kissed. 

‘I missed you so much,’ Peter whispered when the kiss had ended. He tightened his grip around Balthazar’s waist and nuzzled his face into the crook of Balthazar’s neck, breathing in his cologne. 

‘I missed you too,’ Balthazar mumbled, and if Peter wasn’t mistaken, his voice sounded a little thick, like he was trying not to cry. 

They stood there, arms wrapped around each other in silence for a few minutes, until the timer on Balthazar’s phone started chiming, startling both of them. 

‘Dinner’s ready,’ Balthazar laughed as he turned off the alarm. Reluctantly, Peter let him go into the kitchen to make sure the food didn’t burn. ‘Pour the wine, would you?’

Peter went to the table and picked up the red wine that Balthazar had put on the table. It was expensive, he could tell because it was the same kind that Balthazar’s label had given him when he’d first had a single at number one in some chart. 

As Peter was pouring the wine, Balthazar carried the food onto the table; it smelled amazing. Peter was a pretty decent cook himself, but hardly anything could beat Balthazar’s cooking. Apart from, maybe, his own mother’s. 

‘I feel so underdressed,’ Peter commented as they sat down across from each other. His own T-shirt and jeans didn’t exactly match up to Balthazar’s outfit.

‘Nah, you’re fine. I just wanted to get out of my travel clothes. Plus, I wanted to look good for you,’ Balthazar said with a shy smile. It baffled and charmed Peter that Balthazar still got a little shy around him sometimes. 

‘Babe, you look good in literally anything. I can’t believe you did this, though,’ Peter said, gesturing at the table. 

Balthazar frowned in confusion. ‘Really? We literally do this kind of thing for each other all the time. I’m pretty sure Ben called us the “Grand Gesture Duo” at one point.’

Peter snorted at that. ‘Well yeah, but usually I’m the one who does the surprise-date thing. You usually write me songs – which I am definitely not complaining about, by the way.’

‘Do… do you not like that I did this?’ Balthazar asked, suddenly looking nervous. 

Peter reached across the table for Balthazar’s hand. ‘I love it. It’s different but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing.’

‘Okay, good,’ Balthazar said with a smile and a sigh of relief. 

Peter caressed the back of his hand with his thumb and gave it a squeeze. ‘As long as you don’t expect me to write you songs; I don’t think I could do you justice.’

‘Your sonnet was pretty good, though,’ Balthazar pointed out.

‘It also took literally months to write,’ Peter said, raising his eyebrows. ‘I’ve seen you write a song in under half an hour.’

‘That doesn’t mean it was any good,’ Balthazar said, sipping his wine. 

‘Balthazar. Anything you write is good,’ Peter said, squeezing his hand again. He knew they’d have to let go of each other when they were going to start eating, but he didn’t want to do that just yet. He’d been living without Balthazar for a month; he figured that was reason enough to be a little clingy. 

‘Shut up,’ Balthazar said, trying and failing at suppressing a smile. ‘The food’s getting cold.’

Peter looked into Balthazar’s eyes for a moment, just smiling at him. His heart was overflowing with love for this wonderful human being sitting across from him. How was he this lucky to have Balthazar in his life to love without bounds? 

Peter let go of Balthazar’s hand to allow them to start eating. As always, it was delicious. While they ate, Balthazar told stories from his tour that Peter hadn’t already been told over Skype or the phone. 

It was always bittersweet to hear Balthazar tell stories from tour. On one hand, Peter was happy that Balthazar was having a good time and living his dream. On the other hand, he wished he could experience these things _with_ Balthazar. 

They’d talked about it when Balthazar had gotten signed. They’d had a long and serious conversation about how they were going to make it work between them with Balthazar going on tours and to studios all over the world – so far he mostly recorded in Sydney, but he’d been recording more in L.A. lately. Peter had been ready to go with him, and in some capacity he’d prepared himself for the possibility that they might have to break up – luckily, that had not been necessary yet, and he really hoped it never would. 

But Balthazar had rejected the idea of Peter going with him almost immediately. Not because he didn’t want Peter to come, but because Peter needed his own life. In hindsight, Peter was glad that Balthazar had been so adult about it, because it allowed him to pursue the acting career that he wanted. And he was pretty sure that they’d have a lot more hurdles than they did now, if he’d gone with Balthazar to begin with. 

So for now, Peter had to live with coming home to an empty flat for some stretches of time. But that also meant that Balthazar was 100 % present when he was home, which Peter absolutely loved. 

‘How’s the play going? Did you crack that scene you had trouble with last week?’ Balthazar asked, sipping his wine. 

‘No, and it’s starting to really bug me. And since it’s mostly just me talking at Christine, she doesn’t have time to rehearse it a lot,’ Peter said, sighing, and took a sip of his own glass of wine. 

‘Do you want me to run it with you tomorrow?’ Balthazar asked.

‘If you wouldn’t mind,’ Peter said. ‘It’s always easier with you.’

‘Okay, I already offered to do it; you don’t need the compliments,’ Balthazar laughed, shaking his head at Peter. 

‘I only speak the truth,’ Peter said, shrugging, but couldn’t help but laugh a little himself. 

Balthazar rolled his eyes, but Peter could see a smile poking through. ‘Why am I even dating you?’

‘My irresistible charm,’ Peter said without hesitation. ‘Oh, and because you need someone to write songs about.’

‘Oh yeah, of course. Can’t believe I forgot; I’m only dating you because it’s good for my career,’ Balthazar laughed. Then the look in his eyes turned soft, and Peter melted a bit inside. ‘I missed this. As good as it is having room service every day, it’s not really the same without you.’

A laugh bubbled up from Peter’s chest out of the sheer joy that that statement brought on. ‘You’re such a sap.’

‘You love it.’

‘Yeah, I do,’ Peter said, reaching across the table for Balthazar’s hand, intertwining their fingers. ‘I missed it too. I didn’t have room service, but you know.’

The thing about Balthazar was that it was often enough just looking into his eyes and holding his hand. Since long before they’d started dating they’d been able to have silent conversations, and though explicit communication was something both of them valued highly in their relationship, it was nice that some things didn’t have to be said out loud. 

‘Can you believe we’ve been together for over six years?’ Balthazar asked disbelievingly, rubbing Peter’s hand with his thumb. 

‘It’s crazy,’ Peter said. ‘Don’t regret a thing, though.’

‘Yeah, same,’ Balthazar said with a smile, squeezing Peter’s hand before letting go. ‘Help me with the dishes?’

‘Obviously,’ Peter said, helping Balthazar gather up the dishes from the table. 

-

After they’d done the dishes and moved the dining table back into the kitchen, they took turns brushing their teeth and changing into their night clothes. Balthazar did suggest they snuggle up on the sofa and watch TV, but Peter was convinced he’d just fall asleep as soon as they settled in, so they decided to just cuddle up in bed instead. 

Peter was checking his social media, reading a Facebook post that Ben had made, when he looked up to find Balthazar leaning against the doorframe to the bedroom with an amused smile on his face. 

‘What?’ Peter asked, not able to suppress his smile. 

‘Since when are you a Mumford & Sons fan?’ Balthazar asked, nodding at the T-shirt Peter was wearing. It was one of Balthazar’s old ones that he’d had since high school; the one Peter had dug out of the closet when he’d really missed Balthazar one night.

Peter felt his face heat up and put his phone on the night stand. ‘Shut up. I missed you, okay?’

Balthazar chuckled, went up to Peter, and wrapped his arms around his waist. ‘You are adorable. I missed you too.’

‘Good,’ Peter said and kissed him, running his hands up Balthazar’s arms. The kiss was interrupted, though, when Peter yawned, making Balthazar laugh. 

They got into bed, and Balthazar curled up next to Peter, the way he always did – the way Peter had missed while Balthazar had been away. They were facing each other, and Balthazar rested his fingertips on Peter’s jaw. 

‘I love you,’ Balthazar whispered, and a warmth spread through Peter’s body. The look in Balthazar’s eyes was so soft, and the moment was so precious and intimate. Peter soaked it all in, making sure he could produce the memory of this night the next time Balthazar left for work. 

‘I love you too, Balthy,’ Peter whispered, leaning in, and pressed a soft kiss to Balthazar’s lips. 

When he pulled back, he took Balthazar’s hand, which was resting between them, and intertwined their fingers, kissing the back of Balthazar’s hand before closing his eyes, a small smile still playing on his lips. 

For the first time in a long time, he felt himself drifting off without the need to toss and turn. It wasn’t more than a few minutes before Balthazar’s breath evened out, lulling Peter to sleep. Maybe he wasn’t going to have as much trouble falling asleep tonight as he’d thought.

**Author's Note:**

> I might make this the first in a series called "The Grand Gesture Duo". Just for funsies. 
> 
> I hope you liked that. 
> 
> If you want to interact with me, send me prompts or just talk, you can find me on tumblr @optimisticfairyprincess.


End file.
